Computer, control method, non-transitory computer-readable medium, and terminal device that execute progress of a game

ABSTRACT

A computer for executing progress of a game by using a game content, the computer including memory and circuitry, the memory configured to store information corresponding to each of a plurality of game contents classified into a plurality of groups associated with an attribute, the circuitry configured to select a first game content from among game contents belonging to a first group among the plurality of groups based on a selection instruction from a player, identify the attribute associated with the selected first game content, select a second game content from among game contents belonging to a second group of the plurality of groups based on the identified attribute, and associate a game content group at least including the selected first game content and the selected second game content with a player and stores the resultant game content group to the memory.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority ofprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-191198, filed on Sep. 29,2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments discussed in the present specification relates to acomputer, a control method, a non-transitory computer-readable medium,and a terminal device.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, a game system that gives a game content to a player as aprize, a reward etc. according to the operation by the player is known.In such a game system, there is a case where a plurality of gamecontents is given to a player based on a game specification, a game ruleetc.

For example, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2014-121420discloses a game system that executes a game in which a plurality oftype of game contents are given to a user when a predetermined conditionis satisfied. In this game system, when a user logs in to a gameaccording to the login operation by a user, a present bag is given to auser. The game system gives the same number of presents as the number ofpresent bags owned by the user according to the acquisition operation bythe user.

SUMMARY

In such a game system, each of a plurality of game contents provided tothe player has different colors, designs, categories etc. For thisreason, since the player may not predict what type of game content willbe given, the user's interest in the game can be enhanced. However, whenthere is no sense of uniformity in colors, the designs, the categoriesetc. of a plurality of game contents given to the player, the motivationof a player who intends to continuously play the game may be reduced.

The purpose of the disclosed computer, control method, non-transitorycomputer-readable, and terminal device is to solve such a problem and anobject of the disclosed computer, control method, non-transitorycomputer-readable, and terminal device is to improve the motivation ofthe player to continuously play the game in which a plurality of gamecontents may be associated with the player and to increase the number ofparticipants to the game.

According to an aspect of a computer, there is provided a computer forexecuting progress of a game by using a game content, the computerincluding memory and circuitry, the memory configured to storeinformation corresponding to each of a plurality of game contentsclassified into a plurality of groups associated with an attribute, thecircuitry configured to select a first game content from among gamecontents belonging to a first group among the plurality of groups basedon a selection instruction from a player, identify the attributeassociated with the selected first game content, select a second gamecontent from among game contents belonging to a second group of theplurality of groups based on the identified attribute, and associate agame content group at least including the selected first game contentand the selected second game content with a player and stores theresultant game content group to the memory.

According to an aspect of the computer, the circuitry is configured toreceive an instruction corresponding to an exchange game content from aplayer with respect to the game content group, select a reselection gamecontent from among other game contents belonging to a group to which theexchange game content belongs, and exchange the reselection game contentfor the exchange game content.

According to an aspect of the computer, the memory is configured tostore information indicating whether players include a predeterminedrelationship, the circuitry is configured to receive an instructioncorresponding to the exchange game content with respect to the gamecontent group of each of a first player and a second player from each ofthe first player and the second player, and exchange an exchange gamecontent specified by the first player for an exchange game contentspecified by the second player.

According to an aspect of the computer, the circuitry is configured toexchange the exchange game content for a predetermined period from whenthe game content group is associated with the player and the gamecontent group associated with the player is stored in the memory.

According to an aspect of the computer, the memory is configured tostore an avatar indicating a player in various services provided by thecomputer, and the plurality of game contents includes an item attachedto the avatar.

According to an aspect of the computer, the circuitry is configured tooutput an image of the avatar attached with the item included in thegame content group.

According to an aspect of a control method, there is provided a controlmethod for controlling a computer for executing progress of a game byusing a game content, the computer including a memory, the controlmethod includes storing, in the memory, information corresponding toeach of a plurality of game contents classified into a plurality ofgroups associated with an attribute, selecting a first game content fromamong game contents belonging to a first group among a plurality ofgroups based on a selection instruction from a player, identifying anattribute associated with the selected first game content, selecting asecond game content from among game contents belonging to a second groupof the plurality of groups based on the identified attribute, andassociating a game content group at least including the selected firstgame content and the selected second game content with a player andstoring the resultant game content group to the memory.

According to an aspect of a non-transitory computer-readable medium,there is a non-transitory computer-readable medium including computerprogram instructions, when executed by a computer for executing progressof a game by using a game content, the computer including a memory, thecomputer program instructions causing the computer to store, in thememory, information corresponding to each of a plurality of gamecontents classified into a plurality of groups associated with anattribute, select a first game content from among game contentsbelonging to a first group among a plurality of groups based on aselection instruction from a player, identify an attribute associatedwith the selected first game content, select a second game content fromamong game contents belonging to a second group of the plurality ofgroups based on the identified attribute, and associate a game contentgroup at least including the selected first game content and theselected second game content with a player and store the resultant gamecontent group to the memory.

According to an aspect of a terminal device, there is a terminal devicefor executing progress of a game by using a game content, the terminaldevice includes memory and circuitry, the memory configured to storeinformation corresponding to each of a plurality of game contentsclassified into a plurality of groups associated with an attribute, thecircuitry configured to select a first game content from among gamecontents belonging to a first group among the plurality of groups basedon a selection instruction from a player, identify the attributeassociated with the selected first game content, select a second gamecontent from among game contents belonging to a second group of theplurality of groups based on the identified attribute, and associate agame content group at least including the selected first game contentand the selected second game content with a player and stores theresultant game content group to the memory.

With the computer, the control method, the non-transitorycomputer-readable, and the terminal device, it is possible to improvethe motivation of the player to continuously play the game in which aplurality of game contents may be associated with the player and toincrease the number of participants to the game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the ensuing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for illustrating one example of aselection game provided by a game device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating one example of a schematicconfiguration of a game system 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating one example of a schematicconfiguration of a mobile terminal 2.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams illustrating one example of screensdisplayed on the mobile terminal 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example of a schematicconfiguration of a server 3.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one example of a data structure of agame content table T1.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating one example of a data structure of anevent table T2 and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating one example of adata structure of a player table T3.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating one example of an operationsequence of the game system 1.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of an operation flowof game progress processing.

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are diagrams illustrating one example of screensdisplayed on the mobile terminal 2.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation flowof the game progress processing.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, various embodiments of the presentinvention are described below. However, the technical scope of thepresent invention is not limited to these embodiments, but extends tothe invention recited in CLAIMS and equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for illustrating one example of theselection game provided by the game system. The game system includes amobile terminal owned by the player and the server that communicateswith the mobile terminal owned by the player. The server is an exampleof a computer.

In the present embodiment, the server stores a plurality of gamecontents. The game content is electronic data used in various games,various services etc. provided by the game system, and is, for example,a game content related to an avatar indicating the player. The gamecontents related to the avatar are item data such as clothes oraccessories to be attached to the avatar, avatar outline dataconfiguring each part (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) of the avatar's faceand/or the avatar's hair, and background data configuring a backgroundof the avatar.

The game content may be a card, a character, a point, a virtualcurrency, a ticket, a parameter etc. The game content may be parameterssuch as level information, status information, ability information suchas a physical strength value and offensive power, a skill, and anability. The game content may be a spell, a job etc. The game contentmay be any data as long as it is electronic data that can be acquired,held, used, managed, exchanged, synthesized, reinforced, sold,discarded, and/or donated by the player in the game. In addition, a useaspect of the game content is not limited to that specified in thisspecification.

The server associates the attribute with each of a plurality of gamecontents and stores the attribute associated with each game content. Theattribute is data indicating an appearance, a performance etc. of thegame content. When the game content is related to the avatar, theattribute is, for example, the colors, the category (neat and cleangirl, little devil girl, etc.) etc. The attribute may be data indicatingproperties of a flame, thunder, etc. The attribute may be any data aslong as it is data associated with the game content based on the game.

The server classifies each of a plurality of game contents into aplurality of groups and stores the classified game contents. Forexample, the server associates each of a plurality of game contents withthe information corresponding to categories and stores the associatedgame contents. As a result, each of a plurality of game contents isstored so as to belong to any of the groups corresponding to eachcategory. When the game content is related to the avatar, the categoriesare, for example, clothes, accessories, hair, face, background, etc.

The server may classify each of a plurality of game contents into aplurality of groups and store the classified game contents based on theattribute associated with each of the game contents. For example, theserver stores the game contents by assuming that the game contentassociated with the same attribute belongs to one group. In this case,groups whose numbers correspond to the number of the attributes aregenerated.

With reference to FIG. 1, one example of the selection game provided bythe game system having the server for storing a plurality of gamecontents is described below.

The server presents the game content belonging to the first group amonga plurality of groups to a player in a selectable manner. In an exampleillustrated in (1) of FIG. 1, the game contents 1A to 1H belonging tothe first group are presented for the player in a selectable manner.

When a desired game content is specified by a player from among thepresented game contents, a selection instruction including informationcorresponding to the specified game content is input. When the playerinputs the selection instruction, based on the selection instruction,the server selects the first game content from among the game contentsbelonging to the first group. In an example illustrated in (2) of FIG.1, based on the selection instruction by the player, from among the gamecontents 1A to 1H belonging to the first group, the game content 1B isselected as the first game content.

Next, the server identifies the attribute associated with the selectedfirst game content. In an example illustrated in (3) of FIG. 1, an“attribute X” associated with the selected first game content 1B isidentified.

Next, based on the identified attribute, the server selects the secondgame content from among the game contents belonging to the second groupof a plurality of groups. In an example illustrated in (4) of FIG. 1,the server stores the game contents 2A to 2I belonging to the secondgroup. The game contents 2A to 2C are associated with an “attribute X,”game contents 2D to 2F are associated with an “attribute Y,” and gamecontents 2G to 2I are associated with an “attribute Z.”

As illustrated in (5) of FIG. 1, from among the game contents 2A to 2Ibelonging to the second group, the server extracts the game contents 2Ato 2C associated with the “attribute X” identified in (3) of FIG. 1.Next, from among the extracted game contents 2A to 2C, the serverselects the game content 2C as the second game content.

The server associates a game content group including at least theselected first game content and the selected second game content with aplayer and stores the game content group associated with the player. Inan example illustrated in (6) of FIG. 1, a game content group includingthe first game content 1B and the second game content 1C is associatedwith the player who inputs the selection instruction and the gamecontent group associated with the player is stored.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, in the game systemaccording to the present embodiment, the game content group associatedwith the player includes the game content associated with the sameattribute. For example, when the attribute is the data indicating theappearance of the game content, the server can associate the gamecontent group that has the unified sense of the color and the design ofthe game content with the player. For example, when the attribute is thedata indicating the category of the game content, the server canassociate the game content group including the unified category of thegame content to the player. In this way, by the game system according tothe present embodiment, it is possible to improve the motivation of theplayer to continue the game with respect to the game that relates aplurality of game contents to the player and increase the number ofparticipants to the game. Further, in the game system according to thepresent embodiment, when the number of the second game contentassociated with the attribute is more than one, by a single selectioninstruction, a plurality of second game contents are simultaneouslyassociated with the player. As a result, compared with the game systemin which the selection game is executed for each of a plurality ofsecond game contents, the number of executions of the game executionprocess is reduced and the amount of data for displaying the userinterface screen is also reduced. Accordingly, by the game systemaccording to the present embodiment, the load of the processing forprogressing the selection game can be reduced. Further, by the gamesystem according to the present embodiment, it is possible to providethe user interface that does not demand the player to conduct aplurality of operations and can be easily operated by any player.

The above description of FIG. 1 is merely an explanation forunderstanding the contents of the present invention. Specifically, thepresent invention may be carried out in each of the embodimentsdescribed below and may be implemented by various variationssubstantially without exceeding the principle of the present invention.All such variations are included in the present invention and the scopeof disclosure of this specification.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating one example of the schematicconfiguration of the game system 1.

The game system 1 includes a plurality of mobile terminals 2 operated byeach of a plurality of players and the server 3. The mobile terminal 2and the server 3 are connected with each other via a communicationnetwork such as a base station 4, a mobile communication network 5, agateway 6, and the Internet 7. The communication is conducted betweenthe mobile terminal 2 and the server 3 based on a predeterminedcommunication protocol. The predetermined communication protocol is, forexample, an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) etc. Although the mobileterminal 2 is one example of the game device that provides the game, thegame device is not limited to the mobile terminal 2. For example, theserver 3 may be used as the game device. Further, the game system 1including the mobile terminal 2 and the server 3 may be used as the gamedevice.

The mobile terminal 2 is a terminal device such as a multi-functionmobile phone (so-called “smart phone”). The mobile terminal 2 may be,for example, a mobile phone (so-called “feature phone”), a PDA (PersonalDigital Assistant), a tablet terminal, a tablet PC (Personal Computer)etc. Further, the mobile terminal 2 may be a portable game machine, aportable music player, a notebook PC etc.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating one example of the schematicconfiguration of the mobile terminal 2.

The mobile terminal 2 is connected with the server 3 via the basestation 4, the mobile communication network 5, the gateway 6, and theInternet 7 and conducts the communication with the server 3. The mobileterminal 2 controls the game progress based on various instructionsinput by the player. The mobile terminal 2 receives various pieces ofdata from the server 3 and displays game progress screens etc. Themobile terminal 2 includes a terminal communication unit 21, a terminalstorage unit 22, an operation unit 23, a display unit 24, and a terminalprocessing unit 25.

The terminal communication unit 21 includes a communication interfacecircuit that includes an antenna having a predetermined frequency bandas a sensitive band and connects the mobile terminal 2 with thecommunication network. The terminal communication unit 21, via a channelallocated by the base station 4, establishes a radio signal line withthe base station 4 by a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) scheme andconducts the communication with the base station 4. The terminalcommunication unit 21 transmits the data supplied from the terminalprocessing unit 25 to the server 3. The terminal communication unit 21supplies the data received from the server 3 etc. to the terminalprocessing unit 25.

The terminal storage unit 22 includes, for example, a semiconductormemory device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random AccessMemory). The terminal storage unit 22 stores an operating systemprogram, a driver program, an application program, the data etc. usedfor the processing in the terminal processing unit 25. The driverprogram stored in the terminal storage unit 22 is an input device driverprogram for controlling the operation unit 23, an output device driverprogram for controlling the display unit 24 etc. The application programstored in the terminal storage unit 22 is a control program etc. forcontrolling the game progress. The data stored in the terminal storageunit 22 is various pieces of data used in the game execution (forexample, image etc. of avatar indicating player), identificationinformation for identifying the player participating in the selectiongame etc. Further, the terminal storage unit 22 may temporarily storethe temporary data related to the predetermined processing.

The operation unit 23 is a pointing device such as a touch panel. Theoperation unit 23 may be an input key etc. By using the operation unit23, the player can input characters, numerals, symbols, a position onthe display screens of the display unit 24 etc. When the operation unit23 is operated by the player, the operation unit 23 generates the signalcorresponding to the operation. The generated signal is supplied to theterminal processing unit 25 as the instruction of the player.

The display unit 24 is a liquid crystal display. The display unit 24 maybe an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display etc. The display unit 24displays the video corresponding to the video data supplied from theterminal processing unit 25 and the image corresponding to the imagedata.

The terminal processing unit 25 includes one or a plurality ofprocessors and peripheral circuits thereof. The terminal processing unit25 is circuitry centrally controlling the overall operation of themobile terminal 2 and is, for example the CPU (Central Processing Unit).The terminal processing unit 25, based on the program stored in theterminal storage unit 22 and various instructions etc. inputtedaccording to the operation of the operation unit 23 by the player,executes various information processes in an appropriate procedure andcontrols the operation of the terminal communication unit 21 or thedisplay unit 24. The terminal processing unit 25 executes variousinformation processes based on the operating system program, the driverprograms, and the application program stored in the terminal storageunit 22. The terminal processing unit 25 can executes a plurality ofprograms in parallel.

The terminal processing unit 25 includes at least a terminaltransmission/reception unit 251 and a display processing unit 252. Eachof these units is a functional module realized by the program executedby the processors included in the terminal processing unit 25.Alternatively, each of these units may be mounted on the mobile terminal2 as the firmware.

With reference to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, one example of various screensdisplayed on the display unit 24 of the mobile terminal 2 is describedbelow.

FIG. 4A is a diagrams illustrating one example of a game start screen400 displayed on the display unit 24 of the mobile terminal 2.

The game start screen 400 is displayed, when for example, the controlprogram for executing the selection game in the present embodiment isactivated. The game start screen 400 includes a candidate game content401, a selection object 402, and a game start object 403.

The candidate game content 401 is an image representing each of aplurality of game contents belonging to the same category. The gamecontent indicated by the candidate game content 401 is one example ofthe game contents belonging to the first group.

The game start screen 400 is not limited to include three candidate gamecontents 401. The game start screen 400 may include the candidate gamecontent 401 indicating each of all of the game contents belonging to thefirst group.

The game start screen 400 may include the candidate game content 401indicating each of a part of the game contents of the game contentsbelonging to the first group. In this case, a part of the game contentfrom among the game contents belonging to the first group may be a gamecontent that is extracted from the game contents belonging to the firstgroup and satisfies a predetermined display condition. The predetermineddisplay condition is, for example, a condition in which the degree ofrarity of the game content is equal to or higher than the predetermineddegree of rarity, a condition in which the attribute of the game contentis a predetermined attribute, etc. The number of the candidate gamecontents 401 displayed on the game start screen 400 may be the numbercorresponding to the number of times the player participates in theselection game. For example, as the number of times of the playerparticipates in the selection game is larger, the number of thecandidate game contents 401 may be set to be larger. In this case, theplayer can select more candidate game contents 401 on the game startscreen 400 by participating in the selection game more and it ispossible to improve the player's motivation to continue the selectiongame. For example, as the number of times the player participates in theselection game is small, the number of the candidate game content 401may be set to be larger. In this case, through the game start screen400, an inexperienced player or a novice player can select morecandidate game contents 401 and it is possible to increase the number ofplayers who participate in the selection game.

The selection object 402 is a selected object for selecting a singlegame content from the candidate game contents 401 and is, for example, acheck button. Each of the selection objects 402 corresponds one-to-onewith each of the candidate game contents 401. When the input position onthe game start screen 400 input according to the operation of theoperation unit 23 by the player is within any one of the display areasof the selection object 402, the selection object 402 corresponding tothe display area is changed to the display indicating the selection bythe player. In this way, when the player conducts the operation toselect one of the selection objects 402, the selected selection object402 is distinguishably displayed from other selection objects 402 thatare not selected.

The game start object 403 is a button object for instructing theselection game execution. The game start object 403 may be an iconimage, text, etc. When the input position on the game start screen 400input according to the operation of the operation unit 23 by the playeris within the display area of the game start object 403, the selectioninstruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. In this way, when theplayer conducts the operation of selecting the game start object 403,the selection instruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. When theplayer inputs the selection instruction, the selection game is executedand a result screen 410 described later is displayed on the display unit24.

The selection instructions include identification information foridentifying the player who conducts the operation of selecting the gamestart object 403 and identification information for identifying thecandidate game content 401 corresponding to the selection object 402selected by the player.

FIG. 4B is a drawing illustrating one example of a result screen 410displayed on the display unit 24 of the mobile terminal 2.

The result screen 410 is displayed for example when the selection gameaccording to the present embodiment is conducted. The result screen 410includes a first result image 411 and a second result image group 412.

The first result image 411 is an image indicating the avatar attachedwith and/or reflected with a part or all of the game contents includedin the game content group associated with the player by the selectiongame execution. The avatar indicated by the first result image 411 is anavatar indicating the player who conducts the selection game or anavatar associated with the player who conducts the selection game. Thegame content attached to the avatar is, for example, item data such asclothes or accessories and avatar outline data configuring the avatar'shair or the avatar's face parts (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.). The gamecontent reflected on the avatar is, for example, background data, etc.,configuring the background of the avatar. When the game content groupassociated with the player by the selection game execution does notinclude the game content related to the avatar, the first result image411 is not included in the result screen 410.

The second result image group 412 is an image indicating a part or allof the game contents included in the game content group associated withthe player by the selection game execution.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example of a schematicconfiguration of the server 3.

The server 3 executes the selection game based on the instruction fromthe mobile terminal 2. The server 3 creates display data etc. of thescreens related to the selection game and transmits the data to themobile terminal 2. Therefore, the server 3 includes a servercommunication unit 31, a server storage unit 32, and a server processingunit 33.

The server communication unit 31 includes a communication interfacecircuit for connecting the server 3 with the Internet 7 and conducts thecommunication with the Internet 7. The server communication unit 31supplies the data received from the mobile terminal 2, etc., to theserver processing unit 33 and transmits the data supplied from theserver processing unit 33 to the mobile terminal 2, etc.

The server storage unit 32 includes, for example, at least one of amagnetic tape device, a magnetic disk device, or an optical disk device.The server storage unit 32 stores the operating system program, thedriver programs, the application program, the data, etc., used for theprocessing in the server processing unit 33. The application programstored in the server storage unit 32 is a game program, etc., forexecuting the selection game for each mobile terminal 2 based on variousinstructions from each of the mobile terminals 2 and creating displaydata for displaying on various screens. The computer program stored inthe server storage unit 32 may be installed in the terminal storage unit22 from a computer-readable portable recording medium such as a CD-ROMand a DVD-ROM using a known setup program, etc.

The pieces of data stored in the server storage unit 32 are the gamecontent table T1, the event table T2, the player table T3, etc. Theserver storage unit 32 stores various pieces of image data relating tothe selection game progress (for example, image data indicating gamecontent). Further, the server storage unit 32 may temporarily store thetemporary data relating to the predetermined processing. In other words,the server storage unit 32 may include a RAM (Random Access Memory) andstore the dynamic data fluctuating based on the game progress.

With reference to FIG. 6, FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, one example of the datastructure of various tables stored by the server storage unit 32 isdescribed below.

FIG. 6 illustrates the game content table T1 that manages the gamecontent. In the game content table T1, the game content ID(identification), the name, the image, the categories, the category, thegender, the colors, the degree of rarity, etc., of each game content arestored in association with one another. The category, the gender, andthe color are one example of the attribute.

The game content ID is an example of the identification information foruniquely identifying each game content. In the image, the file name ofthe image indicating the game content is stored.

In the degree of rarity, information indicating, for example, thenormal, the rare, the S (super) rare, the SS (double super) rare, theSSS (triple super) rare, the legend etc. is stored.

FIG. 7A illustrates the event table T2 for managing the event. In theevent table T2, for each event, the event ID of the event, the eventperiod, the selection game object, etc., are stored in association withone another.

The event ID is an example of identification information for uniquelyidentifying each event. The event period is a period during which theselection instruction for executing the selection game can be received.In the selection game object, the game content ID of the game content tobe selected in the selection game is stored.

FIG. 7B illustrates the player table T3 for managing the player. In theplayer table T3, for each player, the player ID of each player, the nameof each player, the main game content, the owning game content, thefriend player, etc., are stored in association with one another.

The player ID is an example of the identification information foruniquely identifying each player. The game content ID indicating theavatar owned by the player is associated with the owner ID and the gamecontent ID associated with the owner ID is stored in the main gamecontent. The server storage unit 32 stores the image indicating theavatar in association with the game content ID indicating the avatar.The owning game content stores the game content ID of the game contentowned by the player in association with the owner ID. Further, theowning game content may include each game content ID and the date andtime when each game content is associated with the player (when eachgame content ID is associated with the owner ID). The owning gamecontent is an example of each game content of the game content group.

The friend player stores the player ID of another player who is a friendwith the player. The friend relationship is an example of apredetermined relationship. The predetermined relationship is notlimited to the friend relationship and may be any relationship among theplayers on the game (hostile relationship, cooperative relationship,etc.).

Returning to FIG. 5, the server processing unit 33 at least includes aserver transmission/reception unit 331, a progression processing unit332, a selection unit 333, a specification unit 334, an association unit335, and a creation unit 336. Each of these units is a functional moduleimplemented by the program executed by the processors (circuitry)included in the server processing unit 33. Alternatively, each of theseunits may be mounted on the server 3 as the firmware.

The terminal processing unit 25 of the mobile terminal 2 and the serverprocessing unit 33 of the server 3 are described below. First, each ofthe terminal transmission/reception unit 251 and the display processingunit 252 of the terminal processing unit 25 of the mobile terminal 2 isdescribed.

The terminal transmission/reception unit 251 transmits the selectioninstruction input according to the operation of the operation unit 23 bythe player to the server 3 via the terminal communication unit 21. Theterminal transmission/reception unit 251 includes the identificationinformation for identifying the player stored in the terminal storageunit (for example, player ID) in the selection instruction and transmitsthe resultant selection instruction. The terminal transmission/receptionunit 251 receives the display data from the server 3 via the terminalcommunication unit 21 and transfers the received display data to thedisplay processing unit 252.

The display processing unit 252 displays the game start screen 400 onthe display unit 24. The game start screen 400 is displayed when, forexample, the control program for executing the selection game in thepresent embodiment according to the operation of the operation unit 23by the player is activated.

The display processing unit 252 acquires the display data received bythe terminal transmission/reception unit 251 from the terminaltransmission/reception unit 251 and based on the acquired display data,displays various screens such as the result screen 410 on the displayunit 24.

Next, each of the server transmission/reception unit 331, theprogression processing unit 332, the selection unit 333, thespecification unit 334, the association unit 335, and the creation unit336 of the server processing unit 33 of the server 3 is described.

The server transmission/reception unit 331 receives the selectioninstruction from the mobile terminal 2 via the server communication unit31. Further, the server transmission/reception unit 331 transmits thedisplay data for displaying various screens such as result screencreated by the game progress processing to the mobile terminal 2 via theserver communication unit 31.

The progression processing unit 332 acquires the selection instructionreceived by the server transmission/reception unit 331 and transfers theacquired selection instruction to the selection unit 333.

The selection unit 333 acquires the selection instruction from theprogression processing unit 332. Next, the selection unit 333 identifiesthe identification information for identifying the game content includedin the acquired selection instruction (for example, game content ID).The selection unit 333 selects the game content ID stored in the gamecontent table T1 based on the identified identification information. Forexample, when the identification information for identifying the gamecontent is the game content ID, the selection unit 333 selects the samegame content ID as the identified identification information (gamecontent ID) from among the game content IDs stored in the game contenttable T1. The same game content ID as the identified identificationinformation (game content ID) is one example of the game content ID ofthe first game content. The selection unit that selects the game contentID stored in the game content table T1 based on the identifiedidentification information is an example of a first selection unit.

The selection unit 333 refers to the game content table T1, acquires theselection instruction from the progression processing unit 332, and thenidentifies the group to which the already selected game content belongs.The selection unit 333 determines whether the group other than theidentified group is present in the game content table T1. For example,the selection unit 333 identifies the categories associated with thealready selected game content from the game content table T1 anddetermines whether the categories other than the identified category arestored in the game content table T1.

When the selection unit 333 acquires the selection instruction from theprogression processing unit 332 and determines that groups other thanthe group to which the already selected game content belongs is present,the selection unit 333 identifies a single group from among the groups.When the selection unit 333 determines that a group other than the groupto which the already selected game content belongs is present, theselection unit 333 identifies the group from among the groups to whichthe already selected game content belongs. Next, the selection unit 333extracts the game content included in the identified group from the gamecontent table T1. The selection unit 333 selects a single game contentfrom among the extracted game contents based on the attribute identifiedby the specification unit 334 described later. For example, theselection unit 333 extracts a single category in a predetermined orderor at random from among categories other than the categories associatedwith the already selected game content. Next, the selection unit 333extracts all or a part of the game content IDs associated with theextracted category from the game content table T1. The selection unit333 extracts the game content ID associated with the attribute specifiedby the specification unit 334 from the extracted game contents IDs asthe selection target and selects a game content ID from the extractedselection targets based on a predetermined selection method. Thepredetermined selection method is a random lottery method of randomlyextracting a game content from the selection targets. The predeterminedselection method may be a method of extracting a game content from theselection targets in a predetermined order. In this case, thepredetermined order is the order of the game content ID, the order ofthe attribute of the game content (for example, degree of rarity, etc.),the order in which the game content is stored, etc. The selection unit333 that selects a game content from the extracted game contents basedon the identified attribute is an example of the second selection unit.

When the selection unit 333 acquires the selection instruction from theprogression processing unit 332 and determines that a group other thanthe group to which the already selected game content belongs is notpresent, the selection unit 333 instructs the association unit 335 toexecute the associating process of the selected game content.

The specification unit 334 refers to the game content table T1 toidentify the attribute associated with the first game content. In otherwords, the specification unit 334 extracts the attribute associated withthe game content ID identified based on the identification informationincluded in the selection instruction from the game content table T1 bythe selection unit 333 and identifies the attribute associated with thefirst game content.

The association unit 335, when the conduction of the associating processis instructed from the selection unit 333, associates all game contentsselected by the selection unit 333 (game content group) with theidentification information (for example, player ID) for identifying theplayer included in the selection instruction as the owning game contentand stores the all game contents associated with the identificationinformation in the player table T3.

The creation unit 336 refers to the game content table T1 and the playertable T3 and creates the display data for displaying the result screen410 at least including the image indicating each of the game contentsincluded in the stored game content group. For example, the creationunit 336 arranges the image indicating each of the game content includedin the game content group as the second result image group 412 in theresult screen 410. The creation unit 336 identifies the game content IDof the avatar associated with the player in a predetermined order,randomly, or according to the instruction of the player, and acquiresthe image of the avatar associated with the identified game content IDfrom the server storage unit 32. The creation unit 336 synthesizes theacquired image of the avatar with at least one of the images indicatingeach of the game contents included in the game content group to generatethe first result image 411 and arranges the generated first result image411 to the result screen 410.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating one example of the operationsequence of the game system 1. The operation sequence is mainly executedby the terminal processing unit 25 and the server processing unit 33 incooperation with each element of the mobile terminal 2 and the server 3based on the program stored in the terminal storage unit 22 and theserver storage unit 32 in advance.

The display processing unit 252 of the mobile terminal 2 displays thegame start screen 400 on the display unit 24 (step S101). The game startscreen 400 is displayed when, for example, the control program forexecuting the selection game in the present embodiment according to theoperation of the operation unit 23 by the player is activated.

The terminal transmission/reception unit 251 of the mobile terminal 2transmits the selection instruction input according to the operation ofthe operation unit 23 by the player to the server 3 via the terminalcommunication unit 21 (step S102).

The server transmission/reception unit 331 of the server 3 receives theselection instruction from the mobile terminal 2 via the servercommunication unit 31. The progression processing unit 332, theselection unit 333, the specification unit 334, the association unit335, and the creation unit 336 of the server processing unit 33 executethe game progress processing based on the selection instruction receivedby the server transmission/reception unit 331 (step S103). Details ofthe game progress processing are described later.

The server transmission/reception unit 331 transmits the display datafor displaying the result screen created by the game progress processingto the mobile terminal 2 via the server communication unit 31 (stepS104).

The terminal transmission/reception unit 251 of the mobile terminal 2receives the display data from the server 3 via the terminalcommunication unit 21. The display processing unit 252 displays theresult screen 410 on the display unit 24 based on the display datareceived by the terminal transmission/reception unit 251 (step S105).

FIG. 9 illustrates one example of the operation flow of the gameprogress processing by the progression processing unit 332, theselection unit 333, the specification unit 334, the association unit335, and the creation unit 336 of the server processing unit 33 of theserver 3. The game progress processing illustrated in FIG. 9 isconducted at step S103 of FIG. 8.

The progression processing unit 332 acquires the selection instructionreceived by the server transmission/reception unit 331 (step S201).

The selection unit 333 identifies the identification informationincluded in the acquired selection instruction for identifying the gamecontent and selects the game content ID stored in the game content tableT1 based on the identified information (step S202).

The specification unit 334 refers to the game content table T1 toidentify the attribute associated with the selected game content ID(step S203).

The selection unit 333 identifies one group from the groups other thanthe group belonging to the already selected game content (step S204).The selection unit 333 extracts the game content included in theidentified group from the game content table T1 and selects a gamecontent from the extracted game contents based on the identifiedattribute (step S205).

The selection unit 333 refers to the game content table T1 anddetermines whether the group other than the groups to which the selectedgame content belongs is present (step S206).

When the selection unit 333 determines that the group other than thegroups to which the selected game content belongs is present (stepS206—Yes), the process is returned to step S204.

When the selection unit 333 determines that the group other than thegroups to which the selected game content belongs is not present (stepS206-No), the selection unit 333 instructs the association unit 335 toexecute the associating process of the selected game content.

When the association unit 335 is instructed to execute the associatingprocess from the selection unit 333, the association unit 335 stores allgame contents (game content group) selected at steps S202 and S205 tothe player table T3 as the owning game content (step S207).

Next, the creation unit 336 creates the display data for displaying theresult screen 410 at least including the image indicating each of thegame contents included in the game content group stored at step S207(S208) and ends a series of steps.

In the game system according to the present embodiment, the game contentgroup associated with the player includes the game content associatedwith the same attribute and the player can acquire the unified gamecontent group. Accordingly, by the game system according to the presentembodiment, it is possible to improve the motivation of the player tocontinue the game with respect to the game that relates a plurality ofgame contents to the player and increase the number of participants tothe game. Further, in the game system according to the presentembodiment, when the number of the second game content associated withthe attribute is more than one, by one selection instruction, aplurality of second game contents are simultaneously associated with theplayer. As a result, compared with the game system in which theselection game is executed for each of a plurality of second gamecontents, the number of executions of the game execution process isreduced and the amount of data for displaying the user interface screenis reduced. Thus, by the game system according to the presentembodiment, the load of the processing for progressing the selectiongame can be reduced. By the game system according to the presentembodiment, it is possible to provide the user interface that does notdemand the player to conduct a plurality of operations and can be easilyoperated by any player.

The present invention is not limited to the present embodiment. Forexample, the game start screen displayed when the control program forexecuting the selection game in the present embodiment is activated doesnot need to include the candidate game content 401 and the selectionobject 402.

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating one example of the game start screen1000 displayed to the display unit 24 of the mobile terminal 2 accordingto the variation. The game start screen 1000 includes a game startobject 1001.

The game start object 1001 is the button object for instructing theselection game execution. The game start object 1001 may be the iconimage, the text, etc. When the input position on the game start screen1000 input according to the operation of the operation unit 23 by theplayer is within the display area of the game start object 1001, theselection instruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. In this way,when the player conducts the operation of selecting the game startobject 1001, the selection instruction is input to the mobile terminal2. When the player inputs the selection instruction, the selection gameis executed and the result screen 410 is displayed to the display unit24. The selection instruction includes the identification informationfor identifying the player.

The game start screen may include the attribute selection object forcausing the player to select the attribute.

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating one example of the game start screen1010 displayed to the display unit 24 of the mobile terminal 2 accordingto the variation. The game start screen 1010 includes a candidateattribute 1011, an attribute selection object 1012, and a game startobject 1013.

The candidate attribute 1011 is the text indicating each of a pluralityof attributes. The candidate attribute 1011 may be anything as long asthe candidate attribute 1011 indicates the attribute and may be, forexample, the icon image. The candidate attribute 1011 may be the imageindicating the game content associated with the attribute.

For example, the candidate attribute 1011 indicating the attribute ofthe “neat and clean girl” is the text “neat and clean girl,” the iconimage indicating the “neat and clean girl”, the image indicating theitem of the “neat and clean girl” (an image associated with any one ofthe game content IDs among game content IDs associated with theattribute of the “neat and clean girl”), etc. For example, the candidateattribute 1011 indicating the attribute of the color of “red” is thetext “red”, the icon image of the red colors, the image indicating theitem of the red color (an image associated with any one of the gamecontent IDs among game content IDs associated with the attribute of the“red”), etc.

The attribute selection object 1012 is the selection object forselecting an attribute from the candidate attributes 1011 and is, forexample, a check button. Each of the attribute selection objects 1012corresponds one-to-one with each of the candidate attributes 1011. Whenthe input position on the game start screen 1010 input according to theoperation of the operation unit 23 by the player is within any one ofthe display area in the attribute selection object 1012, the attributeselection object 1012 corresponding to the display area is changed tothe display indicating the selection by the player. In this way, whenthe player selects any one of the objects from among the attributeselection objects 1012, the selected attribute selection object 1012 isdistinguishably displayed from other attribute selection objects 1012which are not selected.

The game start object 1013 is the button object for instructing theselection game execution. The game start object 1013 may be the iconimage, the text etc. When the input position on the game start screen1010 input according to the operation of the operation unit 23 by theplayer is within the display area of the game start object 1013, theselection instruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. In this way,when the player selects the game start object 1013, the selectioninstruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. When the player inputsthe selection instruction, the selection game is executed and the resultscreen 410 is displayed on the display unit 24.

The selection instruction includes the identification information foridentifying the player and the information related to the attributeindicated by the candidate attribute 1011 corresponding to the attributeselection object 1012 selected by the player.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation flowof the game progress processing by the progression processing unit 332,the selection unit 333, the specification unit 334, the association unit335, and the creation unit 336 when the selection instruction is inputon the game start screen 1000 and the game start screen 1010. The gameprogress processing illustrated in FIG. 11 is executed at step S103 ofFIG. 8.

The progression processing unit 332 acquires the selection instructionreceived by the server transmission/reception unit 331 (step S301).

The selection unit 333 identifies the attribute based on the acquiredselection instruction (step S302). For example, when the acquiredselection instruction includes the information associated with theattribute, the selection unit 333 identifies the attribute based on theinformation associated with the attribute. When the acquired selectioninstruction does not include the attribute, the selection unit 333randomly selects an attribute from a plurality of attributes andidentifies the selected attribute.

The selection unit 333 identifies one group from the groups other thanthe group belonging to the already selected game content (step S303).The selection unit 333 extracts the game content included in theidentified group from the game content table T1 and selects a gamecontent from the extracted game contents based on the identifiedattribute (step S304).

The selection unit 333 refers to the game content table T1 anddetermines whether the group other than the groups to which the selectedgame content belongs is present (step S305).

When the selection unit 333 determines that the group other than thegroups to which the selected game content belongs is present (stepS305—Yes), the process is returned to step S303. When the process isreturned to step S303, the selection unit 333 may identify a newattribute instead of the attribute identified at step S302. In thiscase, at step S304 to be executed next, a game content is selected basedon the newly identified attribute. In the identification processing of anew attribute, the selection unit 333 may identify the new attributecorresponding to the selection result executed immediately before. Forexample, the selection unit 333 newly identifies an attribute from theattributes associated with the game content selected immediately beforein a predetermined order or at random. As a result, since each gamecontent included in the game content group includes the attributescommon to at least one of other game contents, the unified game contentgroup can be associated with the player. Further, for example, theselection unit 333 may newly identify an attribute from the attributesother than the attributes associated with the game content selectedimmediately before in a predetermined order or at random. As a result,although it is possible that the sense of unity of the game contentincluded in the game content group is weakened, the unexpected gamecontent group can be associated with the player.

When the selection unit 333 determines that the group other than thegroups to which the selected game content belongs is not present (stepS305-No), the selection unit 333 instructs the association unit 335 toexecute the associating process of the selected game content.

When the association unit 335 is instructed to execute the associatingprocess from the selection unit 333, the association unit 335 stores allgame contents (game content group) selected at steps S202 and S205 inthe player table T3 as the owning game content (step S306).

The creation unit 336 creates display data for displaying the resultscreen 410 at least including the image indicating each of the gamecontents included in the game content group stored in step S207 (S307)and ends a series of steps.

In this way, the game system 1 can associate the game content groupincluding a plurality of game contents with the player only by theplayer selecting the game start object 1001. By the mere selection ofthe desired attribute and the provision of the selection instruction bythe player, the game system 1 can associate the game content groupincluding a plurality of game contents associated with the attributeselected by the player with the player. As a result, the unified gamecontent group is associated with the player and it is possible toimprove the motivation of the player to continue the game with respectto the selection game and increase the number of participants to thegame. In the game system according to the present embodiment, by oneselection instruction, a plurality of game contents is simultaneouslyassociated with the player. As a result, compared with the game systemin which the selection game is executed for each of a plurality of gamecontents, the number of executions of the game execution process isreduced and the amount of data for displaying the user interface screenis reduced. Accordingly, by the game system according to the presentembodiment, the load of the processing for progressing the selectiongame can be reduced. Further, by the game system according to thepresent embodiment, it is possible to provide the user interface thatdoes not demand the player to conduct a plurality of operations and canbe easily operated by any player.

After the game content group selected by the selection unit 333 isassociated with the player, the association unit 335 of the server 3 mayexecute the exchange processing for exchanging the game content includedin the game content group based on the instruction of the player.

In this case, for example, the game start screens 400, 1000, 1010, etc.,include an instruction object (not illustrated). The instruction objectis a button object for displaying a game content group display screenincluding the image indicating the game content included in the gamecontent group associated with the player. The instruction object may bethe icon image, the text, etc. When the input position on the game startscreens 400, 1000, and 1010 input according to the operation of theoperation unit 23 by the player is within the display area of theinstruction object, a screen display instruction is input to the mobileterminal 2. In this way, when the player selects the instruction object,the screen display instruction is input to the mobile terminal 2. Whenthe player inputs the screen display instruction, the game content groupdisplay screen is displayed to the display unit 24. The input of thescreen display instruction by the player may be controlled to beexecutable only in the predetermined input possible period. The inputpossible period is, for example, either one of or both of the eventperiod of the selection game and the predetermined period (or example,two days) after the end of the event period.

When the screen display instruction is input by the player, the terminaltransmission/reception unit 251 of the mobile terminal 2 transmits thescreen display instruction including the player ID of the player to theserver 3 via the terminal communication unit 21. When the servertransmission/reception unit 331 of the server 3 receives the screendisplay instruction from the mobile terminal 2 via the servercommunication unit 31, the association unit 335 extracts the owning gamecontent associated with the player ID included in the screen displayinstruction from the player table T3.

When the owning game content includes each game content ID and the dateand time when each game content is associated with the player, theassociation unit 335 may extract only the owning game content (the gamecontent associated with the owner ID) associated with the player withinthe predetermined period from the date and time when the screen displayinstruction is input. As a result, the exchange processing can beexecuted only for the predetermined period from when the game contentgroup is stored in association with the player.

The creation unit 336 refers to the game content table T1, extracts theimage associated with each game content ID of the owning game contentextracted by the association unit 335 and creates the display data fordisplaying the game content group display screen including the extractedimage. The server transmission/reception unit 331 transmits the createddisplay data to the mobile terminal 2 via the server communication unit31.

The display processing unit 252 of the mobile terminal 2 acquires thedisplay data received by the terminal transmission/reception unit 251from the terminal transmission/reception unit 251 and displays the gamecontent group display screen to the display unit 24 based on theacquired display data.

On the game content group display screen, the image indicating each gamecontent included in the game content group stored in association withthe player is displayed in a selectable manner. From among imagesindicating the game content displayed on the game content group displayscreen, the game content corresponding to the image specified accordingto the operation of the operation unit 23 by the player is identified asthe exchange game content. The terminal transmission/reception unit 251of the mobile terminal 2 transmits the exchange request including theidentification information for identifying the identified exchange gamecontent (game content ID, etc.) to the server 3 via the terminalcommunication unit 21.

When the server transmission/reception unit 331 of the server 3 receivesthe exchange request from the mobile terminal 2 via the servercommunication unit 31, the association unit 335 extracts theidentification information of the exchange game content included in theexchange request. The association unit 335 identifies, from the gamecontent table T1, the same game content ID as the extractedidentification information, and extracts the category and the attributeassociated with the identified game content ID. The association unit 335selects a game content ID as the game content ID of the reselection gamecontent based on the predetermined selection method from other gamecontent IDs different from the identification information of theexchange game content associated with the extracted category and theattribute.

The association unit 335 exchanges the game content ID of the exchangegame content among the owning game content associated with the playerfor the game content ID of the reselection game content in the playertable T3 and stores the exchanged player table T3 to the server storageunit 32. The server transmission/reception unit 331 may transmit displaydata for displaying the screens including an image indicating either oneof or both of the exchanged exchange game content and the reselectiongame content and the information indicating the content of the exchangeto the mobile terminal 2. As a result, the player of the mobile terminal2 can confirm the content of the exchange.

The association unit 335 may exchange the exchange game content of afirst player among a plurality of players for the exchange game contentof the second player among a plurality of players. For example, when theserver transmission/reception unit 331 of the server 3 receives theexchange request from each of a plurality of mobile terminals 2 via theserver communication unit 31, the association unit 335 extracts theidentification information of the exchange game content included in eachexchange request. The association unit 335 exchanges the pieces ofidentification information of the two exchange game contents satisfyinga predetermined condition from among the extracted pieces ofidentification information of each exchange game content, and stores theexchanged identification information of the exchange game content to theplayer table T3. The two exchange game contents to be exchanged is theexchange game content of the first player and the exchange game contentof the second player. The predetermined condition is, for example, acondition in which both the date and time of the reception of theexchange request by the first player and the date and time of thereception of the exchange request by the second player are within thepredetermined period (for example, within 2 days), a condition in whichthe first player and the second player have a predeterminedrelationship, etc. As a result, the player can exchange the game contentassociated with the player (for example, first player) for the gamecontent included in the game content group of another player (forexample, second player). Therefore, among the game content groupsacquired by the selection game execution, since the game content whichthe player does not want can be exchanged, it becomes possible toimprove the motivation of the player to participate in the selectiongame.

When the specific game content is included in the game content groupsstored in association with the player, the association unit 335 may givethe reward to the player. In this case, the server storage unit 32stores the game content ID of the specific game content. For example,the association unit 335 compares the game content ID of the gamecontent included in the game content group stored in association withthe player with the game content ID of the specific game content storedin the server storage unit 32. When the game content related to the samegame content ID as the game content ID of the specific game contentstored in the server storage unit 32 is included in the game contentgroups stored in association with the player, the association unit 335gives the reward to the player.

The reward is to, for example, associate the game content group selectedby the automatically executed selection game with the player. Theselection game to be executed automatically selects the game contentassociated with the same category as the categories associated with thespecific game content as the selection target. The selection game to beexecuted automatically may select the game content associated with thesame attribute as the attribute associated with the specific gamecontent as the selection target. The selection game to be executedautomatically may select the game content that is associated with thesame category as the categories associated with the specific gamecontent and associated with the same attribute as the attributeassociated with the specific game content as the selection target.

The reward may be the association of the avatar with the player, theexecution right of the selection game, etc.

In the game progress processing, when the number of groups to which thealready selected game content belongs reaches the number ofpredetermined groups, the selection unit 333 may instruct theassociation unit 335 to execute the associating process of the gamecontent. For example, from the game content table T1, the selection unit333 identifies the categories associated with the already selected gamecontent and counts the number of identified categories. When the countednumber reaches the number of predetermined categories, the selectionunit 333 instructs the association unit 335 to execute the associatingprocess.

In this case, the categories associated with the game content to beselected in the selection game may be determined based on the categoriesassociated with the owning game content of the player. For example, theselection unit 333 refers to the game content table T1 and the playertable T3, counts the number of the owning game contents of the playerassociated with each category for each category, and determines theorder of each category in an ascending order of number.

The selection unit 333 extracts all or a part of the game content IDsassociated with the first category in the determined order. From theextracted game contents IDs, the selection unit 333 extracts the gamecontent ID associated with the attribute specified by the specificationunit 334 as the selection target and selects a game content ID from theextracted selection targets based on the predetermined selection method.

The selection unit 333 extracts all or a part of the game content IDsassociated with the second category in the determined order. From theextracted game contents IDs, the selection unit 333 extracts the gamecontent ID associated with the attribute specified by the specificationunit 334 as the selection target and selects a game content ID from theextracted selection targets based on the predetermined selection method.

The selection unit 333 executes the above described selection processuntil the order of the number of predetermined categories. For example,when the number of predetermined categories is five, the selection unit333 further extracts all or a part of the game content IDs associatedwith third, fourth, fifth categories in the determined order andexecutes the above described selection process for each of the IDs.

As a result, in the selection game, it is possible to preferentiallyassociate the game content of the group that the player does not possesswith the player.

The processing of determining the categories associated with the gamecontent to be selected based on the categories associated with theowning game content of the player may be executed only when the numberof times the player participates in the selection game is equal to orless than a predetermined number of times. The processing of determiningthe categories associated with the game content to be selected based onthe categories associated with the owning game content of the player maybe executed only for a predetermined period after the playerparticipates in the selection game for the first time. As a result, itbecomes possible to preferentially associate the player who has juststarted the selection game (i.e., player who does not own game contentrather than skilled person) with the game content of the group which isinsufficient for the player. In this way, by the game system accordingto this embodiment, it is possible to improve the motivation of suchnovice player to continuously participate in the selection game.

Each function of the above described server processing unit 33 may beconducted by the terminal processing unit 25 of the mobile terminal 2.In this case, if various tables are stored in the terminal storage unit22, it is not needed to conduct the communication with the server 3 foreach processing, and it is possible to realize the above describedfunction only with the mobile terminal 2. The game executed in themobile terminal 2 may be a hybrid game in which each of the server 3 andthe mobile terminal 2 plays a part of the processing. In that case, forexample, provided are a web display in which each game screen related tothe game progress is displayed on the mobile terminal 2 based on thedisplay data generated by the server 3 and a native display in whichother menu screens, etc., are displayed by the native applicationinstalled in the mobile terminal 2.

For example, the terminal storage unit 22 stores the game content ID ofthe avatar associated with the player and the image of the avatarassociated with the game content ID. The display processing unit 252 ofthe mobile terminal 2 synthesizes at least one of the respective imagesof the second result image group 412 included in the display datareceived by the terminal transmission/reception unit 251 with the imageof the avatar stored in the terminal storage unit 22. The displayprocessing unit 252 arranges the synthesized image in the result screen410 as the first result image 411 and displays the result screen 410 tothe display unit 24. As a result, the processing load of the serverprocessing unit 33 can be reduced.

The game system 1 may include only the plurality of mobile terminals 2operated by each of the plurality of players. Each of a plurality ofmobile terminals 2 performs the wireless communication with anothermobile terminal 2 by a wireless communication scheme based on the IEEE802.11 standard and an ad-hoc network is configured from a plurality ofmobile terminals 2. In this case, the specific mobile terminal 2 among aplurality of mobile terminals 2 functions as a host and conducts eachfunction of the above described server 3. The mobile terminal 2 otherthan the specific mobile terminal 2 among a plurality of mobileterminals 2 communicates with the specific mobile terminal 2 thatconducts each function of the server 3 so that the above described gameis conducted. The specific mobile terminal 2 functioning as the hostconducts both each function of the server 3 and each function of themobile terminal 2.

A person skilled in the art should understand that various changes,substitutions and modifications can be added thereto without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The preceding description has been presented only to illustrate anddescribe exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to any precise formdisclosed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from theessential scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not belimited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Theinvention may be practiced otherwise than is specifically explained andillustrated without departing from its spirit or scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer for executing progress of a game byusing a game content, the computer comprising: memory configured tostore information corresponding to each of a plurality of game contentsclassified into a plurality of groups associated with an attribute; andcircuitry configured to select a first game content from among gamecontents belonging to a first group among the plurality of groups inresponse to receiving a selection instruction from a player; identify anattribute associated with the selected first game content; select, afteridentifying the attribute associated with the selected first gamecontent selected in response to receiving the selection instruction fromthe player, a second game content from among game contents belonging toa second group of the plurality of groups based on the identifiedattribute, without receiving another selection instruction from theplayer; and associate a game content group at least including theselected first game content and the selected second game content with aplayer and store the resultant game content group to the memory.
 2. Thecomputer according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured toreceive an instruction corresponding to an exchange game content from aplayer with respect to the game content group; select a reselection gamecontent from among other game contents belonging to a group to which theexchange game content belongs; and exchange the reselection game contentfor the exchange game content.
 3. The computer according to claim 2,wherein the memory is configured to store information indicating whetherplayers include a predetermined relationship; the circuitry isconfigured to receive an instruction corresponding to the exchange gamecontent with respect to the game content group of each of a first playerand a second player from each of the first player and the second player;and exchange an exchange game content specified by the first player foran exchange game content specified by the second player.
 4. The computeraccording to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is configured to exchangethe exchange game content for a predetermined period from when the gamecontent group is associated with the player and the game content groupassociated with the player is stored in the memory.
 5. The computeraccording to claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store anavatar indicating a player in various services provided by the computer;and the plurality of game contents includes an item attached to theavatar.
 6. The computer according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry isconfigured to output an image of the avatar attached with the itemincluded in the game content group.
 7. A control method for controllinga computer for executing progress of a game by using a game content, thecomputer including a memory, the control method comprising: storing, inthe memory, information corresponding to each of a plurality of gamecontents classified into a plurality of groups associated with anattribute; selecting a first game content from among game contentsbelonging to a first group among a plurality of groups in response toreceiving a selection instruction from a player; identifying anattribute associated with the selected first game content; selecting,after identifying the attribute associated with the selected first gamecontent selected in response to receiving the selection instruction fromthe player, a second game content from among game contents belonging toa second group of the plurality of groups based on the identifiedattribute, without receiving another selection instruction from theplayer; and associating a game content group at least including theselected first game content and the selected second game content with aplayer and storing the resultant game content group to the memory.
 8. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium including computer programinstructions, when executed by a computer for executing progress of agame by using a game content, the computer including a memory, thecomputer program instructions causing the computer to: store, in thememory, information corresponding to each of a plurality of gamecontents classified into a plurality of groups associated with anattribute; select a first game content from among game contentsbelonging to a first group among a plurality of groups in response toreceiving a selection instruction from a player; identify an attributeassociated with the selected first game content; select, afteridentifying the attribute associated with the selected first gamecontent selected in response to receiving the selection instruction fromthe player, a second game content from among game contents belonging toa second group of the plurality of groups based on the identifiedattribute, without receiving another selection instruction from theplayer; and associate a game content group at least including theselected first game content and the selected second game content with aplayer and store the resultant game content group to the memory.
 9. Aterminal device for executing progress of a game by using a gamecontent, the terminal device comprising: memory configured to storeinformation corresponding to each of a plurality of game contentsclassified into a plurality of groups associated with an attribute;circuitry configured to select a first game content from among gamecontents belonging to a first group among the plurality of groups inresponse to receiving a selection instruction from a player; identify anattribute associated with the selected first game content; select, afteridentifying the attribute associated with the selected first gamecontent selected in response to receiving the selection instruction fromthe player, a second game content from among game contents belonging toa second group of the plurality of groups based on the identifiedattribute, without receiving another selection instruction from theplayer; and associate a game content group at least including theselected first game content and the selected second game content with aplayer and store the resultant game content group to the memory.